For over 100 years Pine Mountain has been focused on enriching lives and connecting people through Appalachian place-based education for all ages.
An in-depth digital look at the Pine Mountain Settlement School Archive. The collections
ARCHIVE INDEX TO SERIES AND GUIDES
FULL INDEX TO COLLECTIONS
Now over 2,000 pages of local and regional history and biographies.
ABOUT THE ARCHIVE
OUR VISION
The Vision of the Pine Mountain Settlement School Archive is to provide a voice that will encourage transformations in our relationship to the cultures of the Appalachian region through access to a unique and extensive body of material about one of the earliest rural settlement schools within the region. The Rural Settlement School Movement and its impact on the people of Eastern Kentucky and the Southern Appalachians is a story that has sometimes been misrepresented, romanticized, or only partially understood and described. We envision an accessible, deep, vibrant and vital resource that will encourage exploration and collaborative dialogue about the hidden and sometimes contested history of rural settlement schools within the Appalachian dialog. We envision a broader dissemination of research materials across all public, private, and federal sectors interested in Appalachian cultures and lives. more …
OUR ARCHIVAL MISSION
The Pine Mountain Settlement School archival mission supports the institutional mission and its strategic planning goals. Our institutional mission continues a long 108-year history of evolving educational and social enrichment programs centered on the local community and beyond. Once a boarding school with a progressive educational curriculum, Pine Mountain Settlement School’s recent educational programming has moved away from residential education to multi-faceted offerings of short-term environmental, cultural, medical, social, agricultural, and arts and crafts programs and workshops. But, the archive has not moved away from, nor will it move away from, a commitment to Pine Mountain as place and people. more …
To access the Archive go to INDEX TO ARCHIVAL COLLECTIONS (also at the top of the page).
Go to PINE MOUNTAIN SETTLEMENT SCHOOL MAIN PAGE to learn more about the School’s current workshops, community interaction, annual events, and other activities. It is also where you can find information about donating to the School and visiting the campus.
THINKING OF VISITING PINE MOUNTAIN?
Consult the following for current information regarding Kentucky COVID regulations and guidelines:
https://govstatus.egov.com/kycovid19
https://governor.ky.gov/covid19
ARCHIVE WHAT’S NEW AND OLD!
MARCH
098 IX STUDENTS at PMSS singles I
[Set I] Spanning the years from 1931 until 1944 these photographs (I & II) capture life during the Boarding School years at Pine Mountain Settlement. Photographs of students and staff are included.
Can you identify any of the students? office@pinemountainsettlementschool.com
098 IX STUDENTS at PMSS singles II
[Set II] Spanning the years from 1931 until 1944 these photographs (I & II) capture life during the Boarding School years at Pine Mountain Settlement. Photographs of students and staff are included.
Can you identify any of the students? office@pinemountainsettlementschool.com
“We of the United States are amazingly rich in the elements from which we weave a culture. We have the best of man’s past on which to draw, brought to us by our native folk and folk from all parts of the world. In binding these elements into a national fabric of beauty and strength let us keep the original fibers so intact that the fineness of each will show in the completed handiwork. FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT
See the WHAT’S NEW! ARCHIVE for previously featured collections,
NOW IN A NEW EASIER-TO-NAVIGATE FORMAT. This archived list includes links to
FAMILIES IN PINE MOUNTAIN VALLEY COMMUNITY (See June and November 2018).
ARCHIVE LATEST DIGITAL ADDITIONS
APRIL 2021
4/15 BAYLIS WILMER RITCHIE JR. Visitor – Biography of a member of the Singing Family of the Cumberlands from Viper, KY, and brother of Jean Ritchie, well-known folk singer and songwriter. Many of his siblings and near relatives attended PMSS in the 1920s.
4/12 CHLOE SMITH BUNCH Student Staff – Biography of a PMSS student (1931-1935) and PMSS worker (1933-1939) who served as assistant dietitian in Laurel House and weaving instructor at the Medical Settlement Big Laurel.
4/10 CHLOE SMITH BUNCH Correspondence – Images & list of contents of a file, dated 1936-1940.
4/9 JASPER and DELPHIA DAY Staff – Biographies of a married couple who worked as launderers at Pine Mountain Settlement School for one month, November 1941.
JASPER and DELPHIA DAY Correspondence – Images and list of contents of a letter and contract concerning the Days’ employment as PMSS launderers in November 1941.
4/3 GLENN LARUE Correspondence – Images and list of contents of letters between PMSS staff and the LaRues, dated 1943 through 1955, before, during and after the former missionaries worked at Pine Mountain in the 1940s as Woodworking Instructor (Glenn LaRue) and Relief Nurse and Housemother (Dorothy LaRue). See also GLENN and DOROTHY LARUE biographies.
MARCH 2021
3/31 BURTON ROGERS Adlai Stevenson Speech – Images and transcription of “The Political Relevance of Moral Principle,” delivered by Stevenson on January 18, 1959, at Constitution Hall, Washington, DC. This insightful speech is as relevant in today’s world as it was during the Cold War period in which it was presented. (Images of the letters include notations by PMSS’s then-director Burton Rogers, revealing his thoughts on the subject.)
3/29 LILLIATH ROBBINS BATES Staff – Biography of a PMSS teacher (1917-1920) during Pine Mountain School’s earliest years. After PMSS, she and her husband, Miner Searle Bates, were missionaries and teachers in Nanking (Nanjing), China.
3/27 LILLIATH ROBBINS BATES Correspondence – Images and list of contents an PMSS worker’s letters with the School’s directors after leaving PMSS, dated 1928, 1929, 1941.
3/26 RUTH ELIZABETH CAMPBELL Staff – Biography of a PMSS teacher and secretary (1927-1931) who later, while working in New York City, assisted Glyn Morris with arranging fundraising talks in the area.
3/25 097 PHOTOGRAPHS Students 1930-1949 singles. Pine Mountain Settlement School, Harlan County, Kentucky, 1930-1949, Carlos Banks, Walter Blackson, Ray Bird, Earl Brown, Ralph Scott, Rex Reynolds, Olen Rose, Emmitt Patterson, Chester Lewis, Rufus Fugate, Fred Baker, etc…
3/24 OBJECT COLLECTIONS Weaving and Fireside Industries. Historical overview of weaving and Fireside Industries at Pine Mountain Settlement School.
3/23 RUTH ELIZABETH CAMPBELL Correspondence III 1934-1935 – Part 3 covers a former PMSS worker’s correspondence as she assisted Glyn A. Morris with his publicity tours in New York City.
3/21 RUTH ELIZABETH CAMPBELL Correspondence II 1931-1932 – Part 2 covers Campbell’s correspondence with then-director Glyn A. Morris after she left PMSS for work in New York City.
3/19 RUTH ELIZABETH CAMPBELL Correspondence I 1927-1931 – Part 1 covers Campbell’s application for PMSS employment and her subsequent three years as a teacher and Office secretary.
3/15 BIRDENA BISHOP CORRESPONDENCE II 1946-1962 – For years after she left Pine Mountain, Mrs. Bishop kept in touch with the School through letters and visits. Part 2 provides images and a list of contents of her correspondence during this time.
3/14 BIRDENA BISHOP CORRESPONDENCE I 1940-1946 – Part 1 covers Bishop’s employment at PMSS as sociology teacher, community groups coordinator, and dietitian. See Also: BIRDENA BISHOP Biography.
3/13 RURAL YOUTH GUIDANCE INSTITUTE 1947 Program – Images and a list of contents of a program for the Harlan County Guidance Institute, September 1947. The participants “are interested in getting a fresh Post-War start on promoting better understanding between the school, the home, and the community….“
3/12 ALICE COBB Correspondence 1940s – Transcription and image of a contract between Cobb and PMSS for publicity work in FY 1941-1942.
3/11 KITTY S. RUSSEL Staff – Biography of a PMSS worker, who held a PMSS tutoring position from 1929 to 1930 and kept in touch with the School long afterward.
3/10 KITTY S. RUSSEL Correspondence 1929-1959 – Images and a list of contents of letters between PMSS staff and Kitty Russel.
3/7 GOVERNANCE Directors Reports 1948 To Board of Trustees – Details of life during the boarding school years are described in monthly reports to the PMSS Board from Director H.R.S. Benjamin.
3/3 JANE RUSSELL Staff – Biography of a Converse College graduate and a student at the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) in Sociology who applied for a PMSS teaching position in 1926.
3/2 JANE RUSSELL Correspondence 1926 – Correspondence between Katherine Pettit, PMSS Co-Director, and Jane Russell who was applying to teach at PMSS in September 1926.
3/1 ADMIN CORRESPONDENCE 1932 Southern Mountain Handicraft Guild – Images and list of contents of letters from members of the Guild concerning an upcoming Fall 1932 Guild meeting at Pine Mountain Settlement School.
3/1 050 PHOTOGRAPHS FN Occupations and Homes singles – Occupations, homes, community life, logging, farming, construction, sorghum, maple sugar camps, steam engines, Henry Creech, Shell farm house, Frona Cooper, Aunt Nancy, Mary Bingham, Barry Bingham, Board of Trustee, Robert Creech, etc. …
Go to ARCHIVE LATEST DIGITAL ADDITIONS for previous lists.
COMMENTS and CONTACT
Comments and feedback regarding the material on this website or on the institutional history are welcomed. Comments directly on the website are not enabled.
Please contact office@pinemountainsettlementschool.com or (606) 558-3571 with your inquiries and comments. We welcome your identification of people and activities on our site and, particularly, corrections to the record. Please see OUR PRIVACY POLICY and contact our office if you believe we have violated your rights to privacy.
PMSS ARCHIVE MISSION STATEMENT (extended)
FORMS & INFORMATION
ORAL HISTORY RELEASE AGREEMENT
ORAL HISTORY ASSOCIATION – PRINCIPLES AND BEST PRACTICES
ABOUT OCR TEXT
Many of the texts included in this site have been automatically generated using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. In some cases, these texts have not been manually reviewed or corrected.
OCR enables searching of large quantities of full-text data, but it is not 100% accurate. The level of accuracy depends on the print quality of the original publication and its condition at the time of microfilming. Publications with poor quality paper, small print, mixed fonts, multiple column layouts or damaged pages may have poor OCR accuracy.
CITATION OF MATERIALS
Any PUBLIC use of material must properly cite Pine Mountain Settlement School in the following manner:
“[Identification of Item],” [Collection Name] [Series Number, if applicable]. [date], Pine Mountain Settlement School, Pine Mountain, KY. [date accessed]
STATEMENT REGARDING PRIVACY
The manuscript collections and archival records in the Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections may contain sensitive and/or confidential information derived from historical archives that may be protected under federal and state right to privacy laws and regulations. Researchers who wish to publish and users who may share material from the Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections are advised by this notice that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in some collections within the Pine Mountain Settlement School Collections without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g. may be a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy if facts concerning an individual’s private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person for which Pine Mountain Settlement School assumes no responsibility.
If you believe that your privacy rights have been invaded please notify the following.
office@
See INDEX TO COLLECTIONS for an overview of collections and series.